


Weird shiftings

by Lupinewings



Category: Z Nation (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, Other, Strange things afoot, non Canon, totally weird
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:41:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24154480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lupinewings/pseuds/Lupinewings
Summary: Strange little crazy fantasy world. Murphy is still needed but in a fantasy setting.
Relationships: 10K/Murphy (Z Nation)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

10K screamed as razor-like teeth clamped on his arm. He thrust up, back, and pushed the lizard like kobold back around five feet. The dusky red creature laughed giddly and 10K swung his rifle at him. “Get back! “ 10K yelled, nervously watching the nearby underbrush light up with glittering red and gold eyes. Kobolds rarely traveled alone and this was fricking frightening. He was used to animals, few forest creatures came near humans. Since the Shattering, the ‘new’ races and creatures made everyone leery. From zombies to ghouls to elves, no one understood anything anymore. It didn’t make sense and why Murphy seemed to be a savior, who knew?

10K rolled to his feet, ignoring the fallen kobolds around him and focusing on the oddly eerie green eyes he spotted. His mouth dried as the rank odor of blood and death filled the air. The hag appeared, towered over him, skin black green and hair hanging like Spanish moss. Jagged nails curved from her hands. She slashed at him and he flung himself backwards, her nails tearing the air. “Murphy!” he screamed as teeth bit into him from behind. He thrust up with a knife, striking deep into the hag’s arm. She yowled, slammed her fist into his abdomen, ripping through the shirt and digging into his belly. 10K shrieked in agony as fire flashed along his veins. 

The smell of copper and ruptured bowel filled the air. The hag pressed deeper, yanking at what he was sure was his intestines. _Pa, Pa, I can’t survive this! Please be there for me! Damn it, Murphy, I shouldn’t have had to hunt you!_

The night tore with the sound of an odd bugle, a klaxon bellow, the thunder of heavy feet, and the flash of blue. Screams and howls and blue lightning and the stench and feel of blood. Bodies thudding around him, dirt and grass flying and flashes of dark and light. 10K cradled his ripped open belly, gasped in and out and light flickered around him. Rocks dug into his back. Blood drained from him, he felt it. Vision blurred and hearing began to fade as the screams faded and quiet footfalls, a caress of lips. “I have you, kid,” a voice rumbled. “It’s ok.” 10K blinked, saw only a shadow. Dimly he felt sharp teeth nip his wrist and then a touch on his forehead. A heartbeat later, a touch over his heart. 10K gagged, dug his fingers into the blood soaked turf, and closed his eyes. “Sleep. I’ll keep watch.”

The sun on his face woke him, light filtered through leaves. He moved tentatively, touched his stomach, wondered if it had been a nightmare. Smooth skin met his fingertips. He glanced around wildly, heard birds singing. Feverishly, he felt his arms, rubbed where he swore the kobold had bitten. “It must have been a dream,” he said aloud. Then he spotted the churned grass, the puddles of ichor still damp, and saw where the bodies of no less than eight kobolds and a hag laid, dragged into a rough pile. 

10K scrambled up, grabbed his rifle as he spotted a figure on the bank of the stream. He stepped quietly towards him, noting the water glinting pale silver as it swirled and babbled. 10K knew he was quiet, cat like most said, yet Murphy jerked his head and turned as if he heard him. 

10K’s mouth dropped open. It was definitely Murphy--the eyes alone told him that. Doc becoming a wizard, he understood that. Addy gaining swifter reflexes and Warren a battle master and his own archery skills and wood knowledge expanding, he could accept that. But this! 

He walked to Murphy, reached up, ran his healed hands over Murphy’s face. He didn’t speak and Murphy merely quivered under his touch. Fingers traced the lean face, caressed silken skin and delicate ears. He ran his hands all over Murphy, feeling the warm muscles shift underneath him. Not a perfect body, no. Brutal scars covered his chest and sides although the rich blue black fur hid them well. Sinewy legs ended in hard, dark blue hooves, and a black, lion like tail flicked 10K’s shoulder. Then 10K reached out, touched the shaft of blue, the sapphire colored spiral that jutted from between Murphy’s wide eyes and that glowed with something 10K could only describe as magic. “How in the ---” he mumbled through numb lips. “How did _you_ become a unicorn?”


	2. 2

"Really?" Murphy tilted his head, glared at 10K. "Do you think I asked for this?" He turned gracefully, bowed his head, and dipped his horn in the water before drinking deeply again. The water spun away . 10K blinked. The water glimmered silver from where Murphy's horn had entered.

"I just want to know how," 10K blurted. "From a 180, 200 lb man to a what, 1000 pound unicorn? How do you even coordinate four legs?" Murphy snorted, shook his black mane. "And you--don't really look like a horse." In truth, he didn't. There were similarities, yes, but the hooves were cloven, the hair more like fur and as Murphy moved, he moved with a grace he had never possessed before. "How do you talk? And the water turns silver?"

"The same way I am a unicorn. Magic." Murphy turned to face him. "Are you completely all right?"

"Yeah. Thank you," 10K mumbled. He reached out again, touched the plush fur. "This is unbelievable." 

Murphy frowned, as much as the unicorn lips could frown. "It's the Shattering, anything can happen." He moved to a swift, lightfooted dance trot. 10K froze in place at the sheer majestic wonder. A swarm of butterflies fluttered as Murphy passed though wildflowers. 

"Where are you going?"

"I need my clothes." Murphy disappeared into the trees. 10K sprinted after him, only to find Murphy as a human. Murphy's bare back and ass flexed as he tugged on red underwear. "What the hell?"

"You can shape shift?"

"Unicorn by day, man by night," Murphy said, slipping on a shirt. He laughed at 10K's stare. "OK, not that but if I am in unicorn form, I can't shift forms for at least an hour."

"Why?"

"I don't know, there's no grand unicorn bible, ok?" Murphy threw up his hands. "We're all different."

"There's more than you?"

"I'm sure, yeah. When the Shattering happened and the so called myths appeared, of course unicorns arrived." He pulled on boots. "I'm not going with you, you know."

"You have to."

"Go back to them all and tell no. You have a wizard now, you have your girlfriend, you have gifts and so do the others. You'll be fine."

"There is sickness and you hold the cure."

"Look, whatever they injected with turned me into what I am. But I can't help you!"

"You can cure people."

"I know what happened to unicorns. I read the stories. No."

"Warren's ill."

Murphy studied him, stared at him with his eerie eyes. "Fuck."


End file.
